James Cameron (1799–1875) was a 19th-century

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

artisan An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

with a background in

carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters t ...

who, over the course of twenty-three years of service in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...

with the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational m ...

(1826–1835; 1861–1875), played a major role in the Christianisation and industrialisation of that island state, then under the rule of the Merina monarchy.

Early life

Cameron was baptised in Little Dunkeld in

Perthshire Perthshire ( locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the nort ...

, Scotland on 6 January 1800 and was a direct lineal descendant of MacIain Chief of Glencoe. His early years were spent in and around Murthly Castle where he learned carpentry. His father Thomas spent his life in the service of the Laird of Murthly. The LMS mission in Madagascar, established in 1820, accepted Cameron's petition to serve five years later when he was 25 years of age.Sibree, J. (Ed.). (1875). "The Late Mr. James Cameron: His Life and Labours. A funeral address by Rev. R. Toy," in ''The Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar Magazine.'' (1). Antananarivo: L.M.S. Press. Prior to arriving in Madagascar in September 1826 during the reign of the progressive King

Radama I Radama I "the Great" (1793–1828) was the first Malagasy sovereign to be recognized as King of Madagascar (1810–1828) by a European state. He came to power at the age of 18 following the death of his father, King Andrianampoinimerina. Under R ...

, he spent a year in Manchester assisting with the development of machinery which would eventually be installed at Amparibe, Madagascar, to modernize the production of cotton yarn.

First mission to Madagascar

From Cameron's residence at Ambatonakanga where he constructed the first Christian temple and the first Western-style school in Madagascar, he employed and educated 600 young Malagasy in the construction of machinery and other public works projects. He introduced brick-making in 1826, a technology that was later to be used in a new Malagasy architectural style that was widely adopted throughout the Highlands of Madagascar. Cameron's brick house in Ambatonakanga would serve as a model for the new architectural style.Nativel, Didier. (2005). ''Demeures des Grands a Madagascar''. Éditions Karthala, Paris. pp. 76–77 He was instrumental in overseeing the installation of the first printing press on the island, which was used to print a translation of the Bible in the

Malagasy language Malagasy (; ) is an Austronesian language and the national language of Madagascar. Malagasy is the westernmost Malayo-Polynesian language, brought to Madagascar by the settlement of Austronesian peoples from the Sunda islands around the 5th c ...

. Cameron was also a key contributor to the manufacture of gunpowder in Imerina and the introduction of hydraulic power drawn Lake Anosy, a man-made lake in the center of modern-day Antananarivo created for this purpose. Upon the death of Radama I in 1828, the accession of his wife, Queen

Ranavalona I Ranavalona I (born Rabodoandrianampoinimerina (also called Ramavo); 1778 – 16 August 1861), also known as Ranavalo-Manjaka I and the “Mad Monarch of Madagascar” was sovereign of the Kingdom of Madagascar from 1828 to 1861. After posi ...

, to the throne, and her subsequent attempt to rid the island of foreign influence, Christian proselytizing was forbidden and those practicing the new faith were actively persecuted.Matthews, T.T. (1881). ''Notes of Mission Work in Madagascar.'' London: Hodder and Stoughton. According to a speech delivered at Cameron's funeral, it was thanks to his intervention that the LMS was able to maintain a presence on the island until 1835, restricted though it might have been: In 1835, pressure on the missionaries had increased to the point that the entire LMS team left the island.

Years in South Africa

From 1835 to 1863, Cameron continued his missionary activities at the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is ...

in South Africa, where he lived with his wife, children, and grandchildren, engaged in commerce and worked as a surveyor to the Corporation of Cape Town. His grandson Hugh MacDonald Cameron was the first registrar of the University of Cape Town. In 1853 the government of

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

employed Cameron to successfully negotiate with

regarding the terms of an agreement to restore trade between Madagascar and Mauritius that had been disrupted in 1845 by French and English attacks on the eastern Malagasy trading port of

Toamasina Toamasina (), meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French Tamatave, is the capital of the Atsinanana region on the east coast of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean. The city is the chief seaport of the country, situated northeast of it ...

Second mission to Madagascar

Ranavalona's death in 1861 and her succession by her son

Radama II Radama II (September 23, 1829 – May 12, 1863 'contested'' was the son and heir of Queen Ranavalona I and ruled from 1861 to 1863 over the Kingdom of Madagascar, which controlled virtually the entire island. Radama's rule, although brief, ...

reopened Madagascar to foreign influence and the activities of Christian missionaries there. Cameron immediately returned and once again undertook a wide variety of secular activities in addition to his continued activities as a missionary. He constructed several buildings on the Rova compound in

Antananarivo Antananarivo ( French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "A ...

, including the Manampisoa (1866), a royal tomb (1868) and the stone shell of the Queen's Palace (the Manjakamiadana) in 1869. The towers of the Manjakamiadana were inspired by the original towers of Murthly castle in Scotland where Cameron spent his childhood. He oversaw the construction of the Memorial Church at Faravohitra and another at Analakely, a hospital, several mission houses and village churches, and a water wheel to supply the munitions factory at Anosimahavelona. He was also the first to survey and map Imerina and the region around

Fianarantsoa Fianarantsoa is a city (commune urbaine) in south central Madagascar, and is the capital of Haute Matsiatra Region. History It was built in the early 19th century by the Merina as the administrative capital for the newly conquered Betsileo kin ...

Early life

First mission to Madagascar

Years in South Africa

Second mission to Madagascar

Notes

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